The Shape You're In - Classification of Body Types, Heavy Bags and Speed Bags

Marie Savard, M.D., classifies body types as apples and pears. (Being guys, we call them “heavy bags” and “speed bags.”). Divide your waist size (at your belly button) by your hip size. Greater than 0.85, you’re an apple; less, you’re a pear.

HEAVY BAG

Most men carry their excess heft primarily in their belly chest, and back—an "android" body, or apple. The visceral fat in and around an apple guy’s gut Is more metabolically active, which means it bums off first when he exercises and cuts calories. But he’s unlikely to see much reduction in his belly because of that Layer of slow-burning fat under his skin. THE SOLUTION Whole grains. A Penn State study found that dieters who ate whole-grain foods lost twice as much abdominal fat as dieters who ate refined flour did.

SPEED BAG

Some men carry more weight in their butt and thighs! Researchers call this type a "gynoid" the SOLUTION If this Is your body type. avoid saturated fats. The fat cells in your rump and thighs will quickly store saturated fats soon after you digest them,” says Dr. Savard. Instead, use monounsaturated fats like olive oil and canola oil. body or pear. The pear man’s belly can shrink faster because he has less visceral fat and skin fat around his torso. But that means his junk in the trunk looks even bigger by comparison. The

NO ENERGY SHORTAGE

Scratch one more excuse:

A Low-carb diet still provides plenty of energy for exercise, Australian researchers say. In a study of 60 overweight or obese people. they found that the ability to exercise - as welt as perceptions of fatigue and exertion - were consistent regardless of diet type.

Subjects were assigned either low-carb/high-fat, or high carb/low-fat plans. The low carb group Lost more weight than the low-fat gang, and burned more fat during exercise. Study author Grant Brinkworth. Ph.D., says the results show that aerobic exercise is not highly dependent on the availability of carbs. So cut your carb intake and don’t skip workouts.

13.6 Number of pounds gained in an average of 3.5 years by people who consumed 15 percent of their daily calories between 11 P.M. and 5 A.M.

Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

SLICE YOUR HUNGER PANGS

Eat protein at breakfast to stay full, and make your toast rye. In a study comparing breakfasts that were identical except for bread’ choices, Swedish researchers found that rye eaters were less hungry after 8 hours than wheat, eaters were. The researchers think compounds created when ryes fiber ferments in your colon may help you feel fuller. Look for bread that includes rye bran, which boots fiber content.

The crime

1,540 Calories in TGIF's Cheesy Bacon Cheeseburger

The punishment

3 Number of hours you'd have to shovel snow to burn off 1,540 calories